Thanksgiving: Just the word makes your mouth water. It’s the Super Bowl for foodies – a full day of feasting and football, surrounded by family and friends. We can’t wait to dig into herb-roasted, thick-carved turkey and mountains of mashed potatoes overflowing with rivers of gravy. But we aren’t looking forward to all the work that it takes to pull the meal together.

Walking into New Hotel Mertens is like stepping back in time. That’s because many of the building’s features harken back to previous decades, including the original flooring, which bares the building’s name and was first laid in 1914, when it opened.

Now that Halloween has come and gone and the first snowfall has passed, it’s time to get into the holiday spirit. Whether it’s comfort food, exercise or Christmas shopping to get you in the mood for the upcoming holidays, Grand Rapids has something for everyone this weekend.

Today marks the start Grand Rapids Cocktail Week, produced by Experience Grand Rapids in partnership with more than 40 restaurants and bars. It runs Nov. 8-19, offering two Michigan-based cocktails and a shared plate for $25 or less.

With a newborn baby and a demanding job in finance that sucked up to 70 hours out of his week, Jeff Troutman was struggling with stress and sleep deprivation. So when his psychologist told him he needed a break and recommended he take up a hobby, Troutman decided to give fly-fishing a try.